A Kwanzaa Idea as Religious Space

African-American communication is like a quilt,§constructed of unique verbal and nonverbal patterns§that create a rich and functional way of expression.§This quilting effect comes from the mixing of§different African and European cultures as a result§of various historical events. Kwanzaa Community§Church is working in the tradition of weaving African§and European tradition to create a rich and unique§religious and cultural space, rhetorically driven by§both Christianity,and the philosophy and principles§of Kwanzaa, a distinctly African-American cultural§holiday. Molefi Asante's Theory of Afrocentricity and§Ernest Bormann s Symbolic Convergence Theory were§used to analyze these cultural phenomena.§Afrocentricity strives to create room for the§presence of intellectual thought of Africa and§Africans being the subject and not the object of§discourse. SCT was used as the theoretical framework§while employing fantasy theme analysis as the method§to critique the artifacts used by Kwanzaa Community§Church, Presbyterian Church, USA to disseminate its§message of salvation, social justice, and celebration§of African-American heritage by its use of Kwanzaa§the cultural holiday. African-American communication is like a quilt,§constructed of unique verbal and nonverbal patterns§that create a rich and functional way of expression.§This quilting effect comes from the mixing of§different African and European cultures as a result§of various historical events. Kwanzaa Community§Church is working in the tradition of weaving African§and European tradition to create a rich and unique§religious and cultural space, rhetorically driven by§both Christianity,and the philosophy and principles§of Kwanzaa, a distinctly African-American cultural§holiday. Molefi Asante''s Theory of Afrocentricity and§Ernest Bormann s Symbolic Convergence Theory were§used to analyze these cultural phenomena.§Afrocentricity strives to create room for the§presence of intellectual thought of Africa and§Africans being the subject and not the object of§discourse. SCT was used as the theoretical framework§while employing fantasy theme analysis as the method§to critique the artifacts used by Kwanzaa Community§Church, Presbyterian Church, USA to disseminate its§message of salvation, social justice, and celebration§of African-American heritage by its use of Kwanzaa§the cultural holiday.